plus, kim jong-un's family secrets. how he rose to power over his brothers and his insecurities right now and a clear and direct threat to america. very strong words. the troops are preparing for the worst. >>> a u.s. official tells us that a launch of north korea's missiles may be imminent and it may happen without the usual warning to planes and ships in the region. that's a very, very dangerous scenario. defensive missiles are now poised in japan, in south korea and on guam where there are 6,000 troops. the united states says it will track any missiles launched by kim jong-un and quickly decide whether to shoot them down. our correspondents are covering this from around the world. we're being joined this hour and being followed by every new development. first, let's go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence for the very latest. >> reporter: wolf, a u.s. official says north korea could test a mobile ballistic missile at any time. what happens after that depends on where that test takes place. the u.s. has been p

but kim jong-un is an enigma and a dangerous one at that. the youngest son of kim jong-il he had a privileged upbringing while millions of north koreans starved. attending a boarding school in switzerland under a false name. a classmate remembers him as a shy teenager. >> he was very quiet. he didn't speak with anyone. he was competitive at sports. he didn't like to lose. >> he liked basketball and football and video games. his father had served a long apprenticeship before taking over the kingdom. but kim jong-un became a general in his 20s without serving a day in the military. when his father died in 2011, kim jong-un became supreme leader and the propaganda machine went into overdrive. >> they had been trying to establish his expertise, he speaks eight language, he's a military genius. >> reporter: and a leader with the complete backing of the military. in the first public remarks as leader he spoke of the heart break of a divided korea, but there was also a warning. >> our military has become a powerful military. able to handle any kind

and not on kim jong-un. we've been hearing that and talking about that for the last several days since this crisis has ratcheted up. i've been speaking to quite a lot of experts, and mike chanoy, who used to be a cnn correspondent and visited there 15 times recently. he feels the game has changed in north korea. that they're no longer -- they've changed their calculation. they want to be taken seriously as a nuclear state. and so the united states has to come up with some kind of way to deal with this. as he points out and as we know, sanctions, and the, you know, the punishments that have been inflicted on north korea haven't actually worked when it comes to their programs. i mean, they keep testing nuclear devices. and according to the experts, they do get marginally better at it, including their missiles. the united states is not going to go to war over north korea with all those consequences that it would have. so what's the answer? so after this crisis, which they believe will pass with the north korean

. >> are you ready to go to pyongyang and meet with kim jong-un? >> i have made it consistently clear that i am ready to visit the dprk when and if my visit is helpful, and in close coordination with the concerned parties, particularly the republic of korea and the united states. >> stand by for more of my interview with the united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon. the u.n. secretary-general delivers a direct and powerful message to kim jong-un. i asked him to deliver that message in korean, knowing that they watch cnn international in north korea. at least the elite, the elite government officials and the military do. you'll hear that message in korean. what he has to say to kim jong-un, that's coming up this hour on our special report, the korean crisis. >>> up next, though, we have secret film from inside north korea. very dangerous escape route for people who are starving. >>> and the former president bill clinton once called the korean border the scariest place on earth. gun fights, kidnappings, other dangers in the dmz. ♪ introducing b

and not on kim jong-un. we've been hearing that and talking about that for the last several days since this crisis has ratcheted up. i've been speaking to quite a lot of experts, and mike chanoy, who used to be a cnn correspondent and visited there 15 times, who met kim il-sung, and who has been there very recently, he feels the game has changed in north korea. that they're no longer -- they've changed their calculation. they want to be taken seriously as a nuclear state. and so the united states has to come up with some kind of way to deal with this. as he points out and as we know, sanctions, and the, you know, the punishments that have been inflicted on north korea haven't actually worked when it comes to their programs. i mean, they keep testing nuclear devices. and according to the experts, they do get marginally better at it, including their missiles. the united states is not going to go to war over north korea with all those consequences that it would have. so what's the answer? so after this crisis,

and you see kim jong-un's finger on the red button. that sums up the ngs ati of the world right now. at a point where there are unprecedented threats. we simply have not heard these kind of threats from the north korean leadership for, you know, more than 20 years or so. so they are very concerned. i was fascinated by senator levin and indeed the admiral in charge of the pacific command, admiral locklear, who testified today, that they would not necessarily recommend shooting down a north korean missile unless it was aimed in anger and targeted either at the u.s. homeland or at allies like japan or south korea. that they wouldn't recommend shooting that down, because they are terribly afraid of miscalculation, and generating a wider conflict. they're worried also, because obviously the pressure is on south korea and the new president precisely because of what you were discussing, because they did not respond the last time their ship was destroyed, 46 sailors were killed. they didn't respond when the island was attacked. and so now they

how important is money to kim jong-un? >> money is key. he has to keep the elites happy. >> reporter: north korea has its own version of the 1%. they need that money stream to keep them on his side. fortunately for kim, north korea has legal goods and a willing trade partner right next door. who is kim's link to china? >> it has to be part of the family. >> reporter: he oversees some of the state-run trading companies which mine reserves like coal and iron othre. the profits come back to kim. >> he can cut the deal with china. he has a lot of credibility with the chinese. >> reporter: trade with china is booming, from $1 billion a few years ago to $5 billion now. >> we have counted for the weapons and the minerals. how else is he getting money? >> through ill lis it trast transactions. >> reporter: exporting illegal drugs, even counterfeiting old ben franklin. the north gets more from tourism and foreign investment. but wolf, he says in a country that doesn't get any taxes from its citizens and really is not connected to the international

you didn't know kim jong-un. do you feel the same love and devotion to him that you felt to kim jong-il, just by watching this television? yes, i feel the same. he looks like kim il-sung, exactly like his grandfather. he's the same. he's doing exactly what his grandfather and his father did. the power of propaganda on a people, the power of a regime. remember, this is a woman who risked her life to get out of north korea, to escape this regime. and she's still having this response. wolf, it is certainly a window into us understanding how north korea can continue to exist. >> it really is amazing when you think about it. kyung lah if seoul, thank you for that report. let's bring back our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour, and fareed zakaria. christiane, you see this love supposedly that even this defector still has for the kim dynasty. what does it tell you about that power, that that family wields over the north korean people? >> well, i think that it's infatuation. i've been there. i was in p

he'll deliver a direct message to kim jong-un in pyongyang. and we have secret film coming in from north korea. it shows smugglers forming an escape route for the poor and starving citizens. we begin with breaking news. north korea warns war could break out at any moment. there may, repeat, may be new reason to fear that its threats of a nuclear attack are much more serious than we thought. it's a stunning new development, even as kim jong-un could order at least one missile to launch literally at any time. let's bring in chris lawrence. he has the very latest. chris? >> wolf, several pentagon officials just told me they were completely caught offguard by the fact that this revelation was put out there in an open hearing. look, the holy grail for north korea has always been being able to take a fu clear bomb, which we know they have, and making it small enough to fit on the end of a missile. this assessment suggests they may have learned how to do so. kim jong-un has threatened a nuclear strike, and revelations from a new intelligence report s

with kim jong-un we had some relationship of his life. but this is new. >> this raises an important issue, fareed, because the u.s. has terrific technical information, satellite, intercepts, that kind of stuff, but not necessarily good insight into what is going on with the 28 or 29 or 30-year-old young leader in north korea. >> wolf, when you talk to senior u.s. officials, te really know nothing about what's going on in north korea. it's a black box. we haven't had diplomats this, of course, we haven't had much of a presence in terms of the cia. we don't understand the society. the this is true not just of north korea, it's true of iran. the u.s. has real difficulty understanding these rogue regimes, because we don't talk to them. >> hold on, guys, we have more to talk about amongst ourselves. up next, kim jong-un's leadership has been questioned. is someone else really running the show behind the scenes? new information coming in. >>> a closer look at north korea's arsenal reveals it may not be the weapons that pose the biggest danger.

then kim jong-un put his forces onldz stand by to strike the u.s. mainland, guam and hawaii and declared a state of war with the south. u.s. stealth fighter jets joined those war games in the region and the threats went nuclear. north korea said it would restart a closed plutonium reactor. and the regime claimed plans for a nuclear attack on the u.s. were ready to go. the u.s. has ordered missile defenses to guam, as fears grow that north korea may be planning a launch soon. we've assembled our own security council here in "the situation room," including some of the more knowledgeable folks about north korea to try to break all of this down for you. joining us now is tommy vietor, he served in the obama white house. he's a former spokesman for the national security council. also joining us, christopher hill, the former u.s. ambassador to south korea. he's now dean of the school of international studies at the university of denver. and retired u.s. navy admiral william fallon. he served as the head of the u.s. pacific command and u.s. central command

is money to kim jong-un? >> money is key. he has to keep the elite happy. >> reporter: north korea has its own version of the 1%. kim needs that money stream to keep them on his side. fortunately for kim, north korea has legal goods and a willing trade partner right next door. >> who is kim's link to china? >> he is part of the family. he elevated his uncle to number two. he oversees some of the state run trading companies which mine reserves like coal and iron ore. he uses connections to sell those minerals to china, and profits come back to kim. >> this is a man who cut the deal with china, has a lot of credibility with the chinese. >> reporter: thanks to kim's uncle, trade with china is booming, from one billion a few years ago to five billion now. >> accounted for the weapons and minerals. how else is he getting money? >> getting money from illicit transactions. >> reporter: officials say they're exporting meth, knockoffs of cigarettes and pharmaceutical drugs, even counterfeiting good old ben franklin. a

is money to kim jong un? >> money is key. he's got the keep the ee leets happy. >> reporter: north korea has its own version of the 1%. kim needs that money stream to keep them on his side. fortunately for kim, north korea has legal goods and a willing trade partner right next door. who is kim's link to china? >> it has to be jong. >> and jong is part of the family. kim elevated his ufrpg toll number two. he oversees some of the state run trading companies which mine reserves like coal and iron ore. he uses connections to sell minerals to china and the profits come back to kim. >> this is a man that can cut the dweel china. hae he has a lot of credibility with china. >> reporter: trade with china is booming from $1 billion a few years ago to $5 billion now. if you account for the weapons and minerals, how else is he getting money? >> he's getting it through illicit transactions. >> reporter: officials say north korea is exporting illegal drugs like meth, producing knockoffs of popular cigarettes and pharmaceu

and kim jong-un's new pal. did dennis rodman have any influence at all on the north korean leader or on his plan of attack? >>> i'm wolf blitzer, and this is "the situation room" special report, the north korean crisis. >>> the obama administration is struggling right now to calm an explosive situation if north korea. as we reported, kim jong-un may be gearing up for a new missile launch soon after weeks of warmongering. take a look at how he's ramping up tensions if the region. >> tensions began to sky robert if mid-february when north korea went ahead with its third nuclear test. imposed punishing new sanctions a few weeks later. the u.s. planned war games with south korea, and the north said it was pulling out of the agreement that ended the korean war. direct threats against america intensified. north korean tv aired a video simulating an attack on the white house and the capital building. in a show of force, the u.s. added nuclear capable b-2 stealth bombers to its military drills with south korea. then, k

and kim jong-un, his position in the regime is fragile. so the last thing he can do is show weakness. that's the real problem. you got a lot of leaders who don't have very much flexibility. >> arthel: that's exactly my point. so if secretary of state kerry is there in south korea to try to ease tensions and you're saying the likelihood or a possibility if kim jong-un will make a move, he'll do it while secretary kerry is there to prove a point. it's very dangerous and i want to ask you then, it's beyond now, i think, beyond a game of chicken. it's now moved to a game of chess because the u.s. has deployed a thad by guam, to shoot down intermediate ballistic missiles which is what he has there, posted. so again, it's no longer just chicken. how much should the united states do? i mean, we don't want to start a war. at the same time, we can't let this guy keep doing crazy stuff basically. >> yeah. in the pentagon, in the white house, they're concerned that we have overreacted and amped up with our overflights of the b 2's and the b-52's. i d

and not on kim jong-un. we've been hearing that and talking about that for the last several days since this crisis has ratcheted up. i've been speaking to quite a lot experts, and mike cha noi who has visited there 15 times who has met kim il sung, he feels that the sort of game has changed in north korea. that they're no longer -- they've changed their calculation. they want to be taken seriously as a nuclear state. and so the united states has to come up with some kind of way to deal with this. as he points out and as we know, sanctions, and the, you know, the punishments that have been inflicted on north korea haven't actually worked when it comes to their programs. i mean, they keep testing nuclear devices. and according to the experts, they do get marginally better at it, including their missiles. the united states is not going to go to war over north korea with all those consequences that it would have. so what's the answer? so after this crisis, which they believe will pass with the north koreans able

jong- jong-il, dismissed his oldest son, as quote, girlish, and said of kim jong-un, that boy is like me. interestingly, now kim jong-un seems to be imitating his grandfather, north korea's founder. notice the hairstyle, the hat, and like his grandfather, he gives big public speeches. in contrast, his father is only known to have uttered two sentences in public. ever. the grandfather gained fame and power by fighting the japanese in world war ii. now kim jong-un is taking on a bigger superpower, even threatening a nuclear attack against the united states. but like his grandfather, also a brutal dictator, the grandson is believed to be coldly calculating, but not crazy. how stable is he? how volatile is he? >> i think he's dangerous but not unstable. i'm not concerned that north korea will launch a single nuclear warhead against washington. they would know that's national suicide. >> reporter: white house officials believe the threats are more tactical than a real move towards war. nobody knows for sure. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> thank you, jon. >>> and also back her

can you give an olive branch to kim jong un? >> no, he is never going to give up the north koreans nuclear weapons program. a threat in northeast asia and threat around the world. honestly, we don't know who is running north so, psychoanalyzing the third leader isn't going to get us very far. but i will tell you who is watching it closely as you mentioned are the ayatollahs and tehran. to the extent it look like the united states is slipping back in to the failed effort to negotiate with north korea, they are doing the equivalent of opening champagne in tehran. because it means that the path to negotiation for them giving them more pressure time to perfect their nuclear and ballistic missile program is right there in front of them. >> what is that message to iran? there have been reports that the top iranian officials have been in north korea. and involved in the missile tests and the missile production. what are they learning? >> well, i think they are saying that there is every insennive to getting toward being a full-phlegmed

and is someone pulling kim jong-un's strings? we're learning about two people with considerable power to influence north korea's young ruler. >>> in north korea right now, we're told that two -- two -- missiles are in their launchers, loaded and ready to go. the white house said it won't be surprised if kim jong-un orders those missiles to be fired in a new test of his military power. the communist leader is sending all sorts of signals about his next move, and when it might happen, including an ominous new warning to foreign diplomats in the north korean capital. our correspondents are standing by with all the latest developments in the region. and here in the united states. christiane amanpour and faique sa cary are here. but first, let's go to our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, for the very latest. barbara? >> wolf, there were some initial signs today that things could be cooling off a little bit with the north koreans. but then again, maybe not. a dire new warning from kim jong-un, to foreign embassies in the capital

and you see kim jong-un's finger on the red button. that sums up the ngs ati of the world right now. at a point where there are unprecedented threats. we simply have not heard these kind of threats from the north korean leadership for, you know, more than 20 years or so. so they are very concerned. i was fascinated by senator levin and indeed the admiral in charge of the pacific command, admiral locklear, who testified today, that they would not necessarily recommend shooting down a north korean missile unless it was aimed in anger and targeted either at the u.s. homeland or at allies like japan or south korea. that they wouldn't recommend shooting that down, because they are terribly afraid of miscalculation, and generating a wider conflict. they're worried also, because obviously the pressure is on south korea and the new president precisely because of what you were discussing, because they did not respond the last time their ship was destroyed, 46 sailors were killed. they didn't respond when the island was attacked. and so now they

. >> the bottom line is very simply that what kim jong-un has been choosing to do is provocative, it is dangerous, reckless, and the united states will not accept the dprk as a nuclear state. >> north korea detonated a small nuclear bomb seven weeks ago. this has escalated the ongoing cycle of provocation by north korea and counter-provocation by the u.s. and the u.n. march 7th, u.n. security council votes unanimously to sanction pee i don't sanction pyongyang. march 11th, the u.s., and south korea, our longstanding ally, began joint annual war games. march 12th. north korea nullifies korean war's 60-year-old armistice between north and south and threatens to attack. march 20, north korea launches cyber attack on seoul, south korea. march 22. the u.s. and ally south korea announce an agreement to retaliate jointly against any attack. march 26th, north korea puts artillery and market forces on highest alert and cuts its hotline to south korea. march 28th. the u.s. displays its nuclear umbrella in action. two b-2 stealth bombers make a daylight bombing run in south korea. april 2, tues

you didn't know kim jong-un. do you feel the same love and devotion to him that you felt to kim jong-il, just by watching this television? yes, i feel the same. he looks like kim il-sung, exactly like his grandfather. he's the same. he's doing exactly what his grandfather and his father did. the power of propaganda on a people, the power of a regime. remember, this is a woman who risked her life to get out of north korea, to escape this regime. and she's still having this response. wolf, it is certainly a window into us understanding how north korea can continue to exist. >> it really is amazing when you think about it. kyung lah if seoul, thank you for that report. let's bring back our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour, and fareed zakaria. christiane, you see this love supposedly that even this defector still has for the kim dynasty. what does it tell you about that power, that that family wields over the north korean people? >> well, i think that it's infatuation. i've been there. i was in p

and kim jong-un's new pal. did dennis rodman have any influence at all on the north korean leader or on his plan of attack? >>> i'm wolf blitzer, and this is "the situation room" special report, the north korean crisis. >>> the obama administration is struggling right now to calm an explosive situation if north korea. as we reported, kim jong-un may be gearing up for a new missile launch soon after weeks of warmongering. take a look at how he's ramping up tensions if the region. >> tensions began to sky robert if mid-february when north korea went ahead with its third nuclear test. imposed punishing new sanctions a few weeks later. the u.s. planned war games with south korea, and the north said it was pulling out of the agreement that ended the korean war. direct threats against america intensified. north korean tv aired a video simulating an attack on the white house and the capital building. in a show of force, the u.s. added nuclear capable b-2 stealth bombers to its military drills with south korea. then, k

is money to kim jong un? >> money is key. he's got the keep the ee leets happy. >> reporter: north korea has its own version of the 1%. kim needs that money stream to keep them on his side. fortunately for kim, north korea has legal goods and a willing trade partner right next door. who is kim's link to china? >> it has to be jong. >> and jong is part of the family. kim elevated his ufrpg toll number two. he oversees some of the state run trading companies which mine reserves like coal and iron ore. he uses connections to sell t minerals to china and the profits come back to kim. >> this is a man that can cut the dweel china. hae he has a lot of credibility with china. >> reporter: trade with china is booming from $1 billion a few years ago to $5 billion now. if you account for the weapons and minerals, how else is he getting money? >> he's getting it through illicit transactions. >> reporter: officials say north korea is exporting illegal drugs like meth, producing knockoffs of popular cigarettes and pharmac

what can he and the chinese leadership do to walk kim jong- un from the brink? >> we have a problem together. china may be able to unlock the problem. they have enormous leverage with north korea and the u.s. wants to show -- it is showing a lot of toughness and resolve and you saw that in seoul, and it is looking to be restrained so as not to provoke the young leader and china has the capacity to give kim jong-un the message that china naand and russia stop.orth korea to >> is china unwilling to use the leverage for food and fuel, or just unable? >> china has been conflicted. they don't want to see a threat to korea but china is afraid of a disintergration leading to a refugee flow, and the korean penninsula united in the u.s. and gavive an advatage. this week, the new chinese president showed his frustration with north korea's leadership. chinese areoepe the hoping they will be more reasonable. >> who has influence with kim jong-un now? >> most believe china is the only country. the russian government as well. they have military assistance and it is important

does this mean kim jong-un isn't bluffing? secretary of state jan kerry warned the u.s. is watching closely. >> the bottom line is very simply that what kim jong-un has been choosing to do is provocative, dangerous, reckless, and the united states will not september the dprk as a nuclear

kim jong-un emerged from two weeks of absence. he appeared to be flanked by members of his military as he visited the glass encased coffins of his grandfather and his father to pay what the north koreans said was the humblest of respects. meantime, in south korea, people got up, had breakfast and went to work and opened up the newspaper. it wasn't kim jong-un on the cover, no, it was psy and the release of his new single. the media here came under a little criticism because of the way that they have described these lavish celebrations in north korea at a time when so many people there are hungry. the north koreans lashed out at them saying that it was not at all the kind of thing that they should be saying on a day like this. there is still focus on mr. kerry's trip here. it is thought to have been a very positive trip and some of the comments he made in japan. >> we need to make it clear that they have to move towards the denuclearization and they need to stop the threats and missile test, stop the nuclear tests and we're prepare

what they are all going to do i think is premature because they don't know to what extent kim jong-un is bluffing and just trying to assert himself. >> china and japan are probably gauging their positions on whether or not they should enter into this, correct? >> that's right. they have to figure on what to do. these two countries have not worked together on too many things but on this issue they can. >> is this all a replay of earlier history? >> to some extent it is. remember, we had a little to do with korea. >> yes, we did. >> we don't want to repeat that, and particularly we don't want to repeat with it troops on the ground. so we will find a way to deal with north korea with our sophisticated weaponry. >> a good recap of that earlier history, read kissinger's most recent book. not his most recent on china. maybe it's in there but the slightly earlier one, because kissinger was handling all that. >> that's right. the problem with kim jong-un is we don't know what the heck he is up to because he is behaving kind of like the crazy guy in the pen ten tree who nobody wants to go near

right up there, kim jong-il and his son, kim jong-un. the goal of all of this was purely political. introduction of the heir apparent to the kim family dynasty, kim jong-un. out and about in the capital, no one seemed to know much about kim jong-un. do you know what his age is? what he is like? it seemed the young general was everywhere we went from stadiums to the public squares, but never uttered a word. we should point out when kim jong-il's father named him as heir apparent in 1980 it wasn't until 12 years later that he first spoke in public. so for those anxious to hear from the next leader of the kingdom, sit tight, it could be a while. you should know north korea has long turned its lights off at night because of a shortage of electricity. if you looked at the satellite view you can see the lights are elsewhere. compare this trip to the last one i was on. there is actually more lights out at night than before. maybe something is changing. also remember, three days ago there were almost no pictures of kim jong-un, heir apparent. but here in the leading paper, you can see him r

in an unvarnished view how koreans view kim jong-un. >> thank you very much. in a few minutes we'll talk with someone who understands a threat from north korea better than most. plus, nelson mandela out of the hospital. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour 1 on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour 3. [ sneeze

il-sung who is of course the grandfather of kim jong-un. john kerry also saying that the united states would support its allies, south korea and japan, if there is any provocation. so the door opened for diplomacy, but at this stage still no way forward, fredricka. >> so, anna, what about this information that the u.s. had conversations within the pentagon and beyond that north korea may have the ability to put nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile? how might this influence kerry's message? >> yeah. it really caused quite a stir, didn't it? i'm not sure if everybody in washington was too pleased with that message that got out. some within the intelligence community basically saying that north korea has a nuclear weapon, has miniaturized a warhead to put on a missile. it did however say that the likelihood of it being fired accurately is very low, but it did cause a stir. john kerry, he is heading off to beijing, off to china tomorrow where he'll be holding talks with the president xi jinping as well as other officials in china. his message

its neighbor and close ally, even as it grows increasingly frustrated with kim jong-un's threats. >> they don't want to see north korea collapse. for this reason, they'll push him a little bit, but won't push the north koreans hard enough in a way that would help to reach a denuclearization outcome. >> reporter: u.s. officials say that china is already tightening its purse strings regarding north korea, but clearly not enough to get kim jong-un to end this crisis and back down. lester? >> andrea, what does china see as its interests in helping to diffusing tensions? >> reporter: china wants stability. the argument from kerry to the chinese leader and as i say, met with everyone including the chinese president, the argument is that it is more destabilizing to go along with your long time ally, north korea. so china resents and resists and fears american force, wants that buffer of north korea between china and the american allies of south korea and japan. but the argument now is that kim jong-un is so unstable, that that is a bigger threat and that they should put up with america in o

now the question is what does kim jong-un do if anything? does he take a step back or furthest congratulate? that will tell us about where this is going. >> you mentioned the new president. in part he said no one should be allowed to throw a whole region, even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain. those were made by the china president. >> i'm sure if there has been that kind of a public statement, there has been that kind of a private conversation. but as jim said in his report, the real question is, to what extent is kim jong-un listening to his primary benefactor. clearly china does not have the same level of influence as it had on kim's father. so we'll have to see at what point in time he either processes what china is telling him or ignores what china is telling him. >> secretary of state kerry will be in the region later this week. he is going to china, south korea and japan to discuss diplomacy. to your point, how kim jong-un's father was dealt with and how this young man could be dealt with would be completely different. with

right up there, kim jong-il and his son, kim jong-un. going to come out and watch. the goal of all of this was purely political. introduction of the heir apparent to the kim family dynasty, kim jong-un. out and about in the capital, no one seemed to know much about kim jong-un. do you know what his age is? what he is like? it seemed the young general was everywhere we went from stadiums to the public squares, but never uttered a word. we should point out when kim jong-il's father named him as heir apparent in 1980 it wasn't until 12 years later that he first spoke in public. so for those anxious to hear from the next leader of the kingdom, sit tight, it could be a while. you should know north korea has long turned its lights off at night because of a shortage of electricity. if you looked at the satellite view you can see the lights are elsewhere. compare this trip to the last one i was on. there is actually more lights out at night than before. maybe something is changing. also remember, three days ago there were almost no pictures of kim jong-un, heir apparent. bu

kim jong un a "sch muck." . would say it doesn't matter he will make its calculations based on survival and on his benefactors. is it china behind this? my analysis is that china is not behind this. korea.pply north china did urge north korea not to do the nuclear test. if you push too hard, you might reveal your own impotence. the chinese have a delicate balance to strike. staianiniane the palac issue for another show. they do not have the ability to nuke austin, texas. there is a lot of dangerous things they can do. they have sunk a south korean ship. that was not a bluff. .he south korean sailors died people died in another attack, too. there are provocations that north korea can take including detonating bombs and targeting small killings of south koreans. that can be very serious. today."chart fom "usa host: these numbers seem that north korea is favored when it comes to the neighbors -- numbers. is a discussion that hopefully will never be actualized. betternario would mean devastation most for the people

>> look past the picture of kim jong-un. there's a chart with missile trails aiming at hawaii, california, d.c. and for some reason austin, texas. [ laughter ] >> jon: you are going to blow up austin, texas. what are you just trying to get the rest of texas. it on your side? [laughter] or -- are you trying to get the rest of texas on your side? or did they reject your indi film little miss unshine. is that what you are mad about? all right. nice legs. old kim is trying to scare us a little bit. the bombing austin thing undercuts but what snels. >> this showing north korean military leaders looking at a computer that looks pretty antiquated. >> jon: let me stop you right there. it doesn't look antiquated it looks like a harpsicord with a panic button. planning to start a nuclear war or play nights in what satin, wow, am i old. i thought that would land there but perhaps the audience was thinking well that was actually not on a hardsichord. that's why we didn't laugh not the fact that you are (bleep) old man. provoke us, kim.

kim jong-un was reported to have been pampered as a young man. sent to boarding school in switzerland, developed an affinity for james bond and the nba, hence the recent dennis rodman visit. he spent virtually no time in north korea's army when his father elevated him to a general's rank in 2010. that was one of the first signs that kim had leapfrogged his two older brothers. why? on the eldest, kim john nam, believed to be about 41. >> he made the mistake of taking his playboy lifestyle abroad and arrested by the japanese police in 2001, trying to go to tokyo and disney world. the japanese police spent hours and hours with him. which means the cia and other intelligence services learned a lot about him. >> reporter: analyst mike green says kim john nan is a gamler, speaks to journalists too much for the family's liking. >> they can't kill him but can't let him run the country. he's not a reliable vehicle for the cult of personality for the stalinist propaganda. >>> then the mysterious middle brother. local media showed this photo claiming it was

kim jong-un knows that. he's playing the chinese very well. and he knows one other thing, while the united states still talks officially about denuclearizing the korean peninsula, he takes a look at the world and he says, gadhafi gave up his nuclear weapon program and look at what happened to him. saddam hussein never had a nuclear weapons program and look at what happened to him. tell me, again, why i'm supposed to give up this small arsenal of nuclear weapons, it's the only thing that's keeping -- >> martha, the nuclear talks with iran basically failed again. you have to believe that iran is watching this as well, and says, he's got nuclear weapons, he has a stronger hand. >> not only watching it, but i think there's cooperation between north korea and iran. in fact that's something else that general thurman and other officials -- >> what kind of cooperation? >> cooperation on nuclear program. north korea wants money and iran wants nukes. >> it could be one of the effects of the iraq war, a lot of people around the world drew the conclusion

jong un what he decides to do. >> reporter: kim's military is the fourth l

let's talk about kim jong-un of course the leader of north korea. he's only 30 years of age. is he doing this all of this on his own or listening to hardliners within his regime? >> it's an important question and we don't have a good answer to it. it may be that kim is the, you know, the third in a line of hereditary communist dictators, that's a unique situation in the world in and of itself, maybe he's in charge of north korea. it may be that he's simply a figure head and the military is in charge or it could be a hundred different variations of that in between. that's one of the reasons why it's so difficult to understand exactly what their logic is, because their leadership structure is not transparent and we really don't know the balance of power within it. one would have to say that it looks like a year into office this could be an effort to try and prove himself and that's why, for example, launching these missiles that we've just heard described, is being prepared for launching, could be a way of showing his determination to withstand pressure from the outside. and yo

because no official from the united states has met with kim jong-un. no amount of third-hand snippets from diplomats in pyongyang is going to really stand in for what's vital. and that is some kind of knowledge from some kind of top u.s. envoy, not in the administration, maybe, but a top envoy who can talk to kim jong-un at some point. so, yes, that is the problem. they think, the experts, that he is in charge. that he's actually test-fired several things over the last, you know, year or more that he's been in power. that he's shuffled around areas of the military, that he's made speeches on trying to, you know, improve the economy. that, yes, he probably has a good and solid relationship with his generals. and particularly with that famous uncle of his who we've heard so much about. >> it's interesting. i read someone from seoul say the farther one is from the korean peninsula, the more worry about recent developments there is. as a matter of fact, people come up on the subway today saying, gosh, what do you think is going to happen? what's this north

leelder kim jong un attended the meeting. they adopted legislation to reenforce the nation's nuclear capabilities. they also voted to create a bureau of what they call space development. security analysts sat rocket program is a cover for developing balic missiles. dell fwats agreed to increase the quantity and quality of records. the parliament reappointed pack upon ju to the commission. he was appointed director of the light industry. he'll pay a key role in economic policy. >>> the economic interests of north korean leaders are in some cases trumping feelings of animosity they have toward their neighbor. they allowed south korean workers to cross the border on monday to operate a jointly run industrial complex. but some of the workers say the atmosphere at the facility has changed. north korean officials said over the woke end, they would close the industrial park if south korea continued trying to undermine their nation's dignity. they announced monday they would allow personnel in and out of the zone. many of the workers